Hunted: Burning Embers
by TheMarauderBandit
Summary: Book one of the Hunted series. Ziva has a secret. A secret she can't tell anybody about. How will the team react when they find out? How can Tony win her over? Rated T for mild language and abuse.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! I recently got re-addicted to NCIS and decided to write a fanfiction (naturally) ;) Hope you like this one. First book of the Hunted series. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize_

_Characters are (as always) AU_

_Adios!_

_~Bandit_

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><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Chapter 1

Tony sat down in his office chair with enough force that it spun around twice. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and turned his computer on. He clicked a few documents and put his feet up on the desk, relaxing in his chair, waiting for the rest of his team to arrive.

"Gibbs won't like you doing that," McGee said sheepishly, striding into the bullpen. Tony sneered at him and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"Just can it McGee," Tony rubbed his temples, urging his headache to go away.

"Sleep well last night?" McGee turned on his computer.

Tony chuckled harshly, "I don't want to talk about it."

McGee started to rapidly type on his computer, instantly getting to work, installing seven new programs in his computer. "What happened?"

"I _don't_ want to talk about it," Tony snapped his eyes open and stared icily at McGee.

"Feet off the desk," Gibbs said, walking into the bullpen with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Tony sighed loudly and reluctantly obliged.

"Where's Ziva?" Gibbs asked, sitting down at his desk.

"I don't know, she hasn't arrived yet," McGee answered, still typing away on his keyboard.

The elevator door rang and Ziva stepped out, talking to a man with large muscles and long hair pulled back in rough ponytail as they held hands. Ziva stopped, smiled at him, then stood on her tip toes and kissed him on his cheek. He smiled back, unlocked hands with Ziva, and returned to the elevator, pressing the button to go down. Tony sneered as she passed by him. Ever since she'd started dating him, Tony'd had this bad feeling in his gut. He figured it was jealously, and it probably was. He felt bad because she was his friend, and he should probably wish what was best for Ziva and not let his own feelings get in the way of her happiness, but he just couldn't shake the feeling about this guy.

"Feeling alright Tony?" Gibbs sighed, noticing Tony glowering at the elevator door.

"To tell you to truth, boss, I feel like hell," Tony admitted as his head pounded on like bongo drums.

"You look like hell too," Ziva chuckled as she plopped down in her chair. She winked innocently at him.

"I didn't sleep well last night," Tony stared intently at his computer screen. "I had a couple of nightmares," he looked over at Gibbs' desk, only to find that it was empty. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes again.

"What happened to your head, Ziva?" Gibbs asked, reappearing right next to Ziva's desk with a steaming new cup of coffee. Ziva faintly touched the deep welt right above her left eye.

"Oh it's nothing, I just fell down the stairs this morning," she chuckled, "See?" she pulled down her turtle neck to reveal her shoulder, which had a large, green bruise on it.

McGee recoiled at the sight, "Are you okay, Ziva?" he asked in a strained voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she let the turtleneck go back up to place.

Ducky appeared behind Tony's desk, "Gibbs, may I borrow Ziva? I need her help with something."

"Sure," he replied absentmindedly.

Ziva got up quickly and came out from behind her desk. She coughed loudly into her hand as she headed over to Ducky.

"Have you got a cold?" he asked, noticing the cough.

"Yeah, I think, a small one though," Ziva sighed as she followed the ME down to the autopsy room.

Tony watched them leave, then looked up at Gibbs, who was staring intently at Tony. His ice-blue eyes pierced into Tony, clearly asking a question. What the question was, Tony still had to find out himself.

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><p>Ziva quickly said goodbye to her team mates and hurried to the elevator not wanting to anger her boyfriend. She raced across the parking lot, spotting the familiar black SUV. She opened the glossy door and slide into the passenger seat.<p>

"Hello," Ziva said, wanting to take her mind of things at work. It seemed like the team was falling apart, person by person.

"Hey babe," John replied, starting up the engine. In the dark light, he seemed evil, the way the shadows reflected on his hard face. Ziva shivered at the thought of what would come next. "You cold?" he asked smoothly, keeping his eyes on the road, but still managing to see her shiver.

"A little," Ziva thought for a moment, "I'll manage."

He peered at her, his expression stony, "Did you tell them?"

"No."

"You know I'll find out if you did."

Ziva stared hard into his eyes, "I swear I didn't."

"Good," he sighed and leaned back in his chair as he drove, using one hand to carelessly steer the wheel.

Ziva sighed and look out to the long, gloomy road that lead to her house, "They did notice my cut though," she muttered, hoping John wouldn't hear her.

He did though, because he swerved violently to the side of the road, and turned on her, his face red. Ziva shrunk back in her chair, her brown eyes wide. "What did you tell them?"

"I-I t-told t-them I-I hit my h-head falling down the s-stairs t-this morning," Ziva stuttered, cowering back from John.

"Good girl," he pulled back to the road and continued driving. Ziva breathed deeply and stared out the window of the car, desperately wishing someone was there to save her.

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><p>Ziva lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, contemplating the situation she was in. She wanted to be saved <em>so badly<em>. But she couldn't. There was no logical reason. He was tough, no way could she fight him, she'd tried. Every time he picked her up from work, he'd take her guns without a second thought. Once she got to work, he gave her guns back, once she'd tried to shoot him, but he wore a bullet-proof vest. He told her if she told anyone, he'd make her watch them die, and then he'd kill her. She normally wouldn't be worried about this, but he'd found everyone's address, everyone she cared about.

There was no escape. She carefully got out of her bed, and flicked the light switch by her door on. It took the cheap light that hung from the water-stained ceiling to actually turn on. Ziva looked into the cracked mirror the sat in the corner of her tiny bedroom. She scanned herself in the mirror, the light casting a dim glow on her body, constantly flickering. She rubbed at all the bruises and cuts, grimacing at the many scars that littered her stomach and chest.

She could hear his snoring from the couch in her living room, the TV blaring loudly. She rubbed her eyes and turned around to look at the digital clock resting on her bedside table. The faint, green light stated that it was two thirty in the morning. She sighed and sat hard on the carpet floor.

There was no doubt in her mind. She had to stop refusing it.

John abused her.

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><p><strong>AN: I always appreciate it when people review. It keeps me writing :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Oh my gosh, guys I'm SO sorry for not updating sooner! My computer totally crashed and I lot all my files. So along with my lost files I lost my motive for this story and then got horrible writers block. But I finally got over writer's block and so I wrote chapter 2! I've been working like crazy on this and I just finished, so you know not my best work, two in the morning, just got over writer's block, and I have no beta because I'm too lazy ;) So to make up for it, I'll give you a sneak peak of the next chapter. Okay? Good. :) Oh, and by the way, Happy Fourth of July :) Hope you all have fun. I'll be hanging out with my grandpa (he just had a stroke) so I'll be excited to see his reaction to the fireworks my brother and I bought :D Buon divertimento!_

_And I have a few warnings. Mmkay? Mmkay. WARNING: Language in this chapter and slight thoughts of suicide. Not exactly my most happy chapter :/_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize._

_Characters are very AU, considering Ziva would never, in real life, let this happen. ;)_

_~Bandit_

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><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Chapter 2

A small ray of sunshine flashed over the hills and the rooftops, leaving a golden trail of safe and happiness along the regular neighborhoods, quietly creeping into Ziva's bedroom without warning, deciding to glint on Ziva's pained expression. The ninja woke with a start at the sudden burst of warmth, too used to the broken heater in her cheap apartment building, and squinted against the golden wonderfulness. She soon realized where she was, and stood up from the dirty carpet with much difficulty, peeled a spider off her with a small yelp, and looked around. She staggered forward, a sudden pain forming in her sides. She winced and bent over, a terrible hacking sound forming from her lips.

The agent begged her throat to quiet down, as she restrained the coughs from coming, not daring to even stir John from his slumber, which she could tell was still going on, since his snores were filling her head. She suddenly felt the need to sit down, the headache forming in her head not helping the already unbearable pain she was in from the bruises on her sides. She fell to her knees with a sharp breath of air as she struggled to breathe the already stale air. She crawled on her hands and knees to her wooden dresser. She used it to support herself as she stood up, and opened one of the rickety drawers, searching through the many items stuffed lazily into the drawer.

She pulled out two small bottles, and quickly twisted the lids open. She stared at them for a moment, thinking deeply, her thoughts running wild and free. Free. Something she wished she could be. Freedom is the thing she'd never want most. She licked her dry, bleeding lips, and poured two of each of the pills into her cupped hand, figuring she'd never had freedom now. Not as long as she lived. She quickly swallowed the pills without delay, despite the fact her throat felt sore from the previous night, where she'd stayed up half the night coughing.

Ziva crept to her poorly painted bedroom door and paused, considering the old thing before her. She silently prayed in many languages, hoping that she not wake John up. She breathed through her nose, not daring to let her hopelessly loud breathing wake up the devil. She could hear the TV blaring loudly from the living room, where he slept on the sofa. She opened the door slowly, quietly, hoping to create a small enough gap for her to just slip through, quietly enough to make it to the kitchen. She let out a sigh of despair as the door hinges squeaked loudly. '_I've got to fix that_,' she thought as calmly as she could to herself as she examined the door.

"God damn it, you bitch!" his voice roared from the living room, even making the TV seem quiet. She heard a thud as he rolled off the couch in his drunken state.

She wanted desperately to turn back into her bed room, lock the door, and never come out. But it wouldn't do anything other then make him mad. '_Besides,_' Ziva trembled even at her own thoughts, '_we've learned he can break down doors, haven't we, Ziva?_' she examined the door once more, her eyes darting quickly the large crack that resembled a hole.

She stepped into open view, bracing herself for the worst. But nothing came. She opened her eyes, peering into the living room from behind the stained half-wall. She could hear John's labored breathing before she spotted him on the ground, still attempting to get up. She could hear his wheezy cough, the same one that haunted her dreams every night, loud and clear. She slipped from the behind the wall into the kitchen, afraid that since he still possessed her gun, he would shoot her. Ziva peeked her head over the counter and noticed him, from the effort of trying to get up, lighting a cigarette. They both knew that smoking was illegal in the apartment buildings, no one checked often enough to find out, neither did John care. She would have to pay the price if anyone found out. His cough grew slightly more dry and intense as he continued the horrible habit.

Ziva felt her own cough coming on, and she hunched behind the counter, her sides complaining, screaming at her that the medicine she'd taken hadn't worked. Her coughs became loudly as they racked her body so horribly that she fell to her knees. Her eyes watered and her throat burned more as she continued. Her lungs screamed for air. She took gulps of air, her breathing becoming steadily more ragged. She stood up as the hacks became more subsided and nearly jumped back a foot as she stared into the icy eyes of the snake she'd grown long weary of. He must have gotten up and snuck up on her during her vicious flail for air.

"You woke me up you ass hole," he whispered, the cigarette still in his mouth.

"I'm sorry, John, I swear I didn't mean to," she pleaded, the evil glint in his glazed eyes too familiar for comfort.

"You woke me up from the most spectacular dream, babe," he replied calmly, though Ziva saw anger boiling inside. "You know what it was about?" he blew smoke at her. She breathed in the vile stuff and stumbled back a few steps, toward the stove, coughing as she did so.

"No. What were you dreaming about?" she asked between coughs.

"You actually being a good girlfriend," he replied and strode from behind the counter, his face regaining the usual stony expression. Ziva calmly backed away from him, and cursed in Hebrew as she ran into the stove. "You haven't made breakfast yet. You were supposed to be awake an hour ago, bitch!"

He grabbed her left arm tightly and shoved her against the stove, where he promptly punched her in the gut. She tried to stay strong and not give a sound. Maybe if she didn't show him she was hurt he'd give up. She soon learned that plan didn't work. He pushed harder as she showed no indication of pain, but she refused to break, now that he was so determined she was fragile. He pushed her hard and she went stumbling across the room, her pain giving in. She fell into the refrigerator and she screamed so loudly even the devil looked surprised.

"Do something useful and make me some breakfast, then go and make yourself pretty. We leave in an hour," he spat at her, shoving her once more into the fridge.

She had the overwhelming urge to cry. But she couldn't. She had to stay strong. She had to fight back. She picked herself up from the floor, using the fridge handle, her whole body sore. She quickly set to work, making his breakfast without a word as he continued to drink and smoke, watching her intently. She placed a plate in front of him. "Thanks hottie," he sneered, his sour breath almost making Ziva gag again. She stood up shakily, and started towards the bathroom, ready to fix the mess of the morning, knowing that if she ate anything, it would just come back up in a second.

The figure in the cracked mirror was unrecognizable. The person in the mirror wasn't the girl Ziva'd grown used to seeing. The person in the mirror had cuts and bruises littering her face, her lips cracked and bloody, had a deep sullen expression, and had dark, black circled underneath her suddenly dull, grey eyes. This wasn't the Ziva everyone knew. She'd changed. So horribly, she could barely see any resemblance.

She placed her palms on the counter and breathed deeply. She considered the pills. And then remembered the case the team was working on. She couldn't leave them now. They were almost finished. And there was Abby to think about. And Tony, and Gibbs, and McGee, and Ducky. They'd all be devastated. And she couldn't not say goodbye to Abby. She wouldn't die without saying goodbye to Abby.

Her thoughts grew slightly lighter as she put on layers of makeup, covering the regular bruises and cuts. She was at least close to a smile by the time she brushed her hair. She came to the living room, thinking she was probably overreacting. John wasn't doing that bad of stuff to her. A simple punishment. '_I mean, I had no right waking him up anyways_,' she considering the drunk standing before her, slurring random words. She closed her eyes as she imagined getting into a car with him. She sighed and handed him his keys.

"Let's go," she said heavily, looking down at her feet. She even thought she felt her breathing grow less ragged. And her headache was fading ever so slightly. She'd have to take more pills at the building. No way was she working with this kind of pain. She stared as John fell down the metal stairs leading to the parking lot. He got up with some difficulty, and said a feeble "I'm'll 'ight," She sighed as she turned to lock the door. Perhaps if he killed her on the way to work, she'd feel better. In hell.

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, I know, dark ending. Oh. Bad. Anyways you guys rock! Four reviews for the first chapter! Yeah! I came home and saw an inbox full of notices! I love it ;) Please review some more and make me happy. And please forgive me. Please?**

**Here's the sneak peak:**

**She was screaming. Screaming for him to come back. "No! Tony! Tony! You can't be dead! Please come back!" Ziva fell to her knees before the man, blood spurting from his chest. "No... Tony... come back. Y-you c-can't leave me with this b-bastard!" She felt tears fall from her eyes at her fallen partner. She sobbed for what seemed like hours. **

**"Ziva?" She heard Abby's voice in the distance. Oh no. What would she tell Abby? "Ziva are you alright?"**

**There's your sneak peak:) ^^ Suspenseful huh? Yeah. I know :P**

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><p>Zoyarose: Thanks :) I hope you enjoy this chapter ;)<p>

mysterywriter94: Thanks! :) I meant for it to be intense, so I'm glad it seemed that way :)

Chlollierockz: I hope it's interesting :) Thanks for reviewing(;

ForeignMusicLyrics: Thank you :) I hope you keep reading after that long, horrible break ;)

TotallyTiva: This soon enough for you? Haha :) Thanks for reviewing. P.S. I like your username :)

THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING AND READING ;)


	3. Chapter 3

_Haha! I finally finished this chapter! Haha! I decided to give you guys an extra treat, since I still feel bad from not reviewing, AND I got five more reviews and tons of alerts! You guys rock! It made my whole day! :) I've got to get to bed, considering my mom's waking up soon, and I have to finish this before she finds out. There is lot's of Ziva/Tony and a father/daughter relationship between Ziva and Gibbs. And I must warn you this fic is coming to an end (yes already, but I promise a sequel). I think there's going to be a total of about six through eight total chapters. Thank you! Buon divertimento! ;)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize ;)_

_Characters are very AU (especially in this chapter)_

_~Bandit_

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><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Chapter 3

She felt her breathing slow down as she stood in front of the NCIS building. The one place she was safe. She closed her eyes in relief. She fingered the gun she held and glanced back at the large, glossy, black SUV waiting for her to go into the building. She took a deep breath, pulled a strange of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. She pocketed the gun and took another deep breath before stepping into the elevator. She felt her stomach drop and she fell to her knees as a sudden, horrible wave of nausea passed of her. She curled up in a ball in the side of the elevator as the ride made her head swim with pain and the horrible pain in her sides return. She barely heard the ding of the elevator through the ringing echoing in her ears.

"Ziva?" her head snapped up at the familiar tone, not expecting someone to talk, and causing her head to pound even more from the sudden movement. "Whatcha doin' on the floor?" Tony raised an eyebrow at her as he demanded explanation.

Ziva rubbed her head as she cursed at Tony in Hebrew, "I was just… praying," she winced right after she said it, knowing that Tony wouldn't believe it.

His smirk confirmed her suspicions. "You know, David, you are the worst liar I've ever seen," he continued to smirk as he gestured for her to come forward.

She instead grabbed the collar of his shirt and pressed him against the wall, holding a knife she'd found in her pocket up against his neck, "You tell anyone,_ DiNozzo_, and I will not even _hesitate_ to kill you," she whispered in the most menacing and threatening way she could, what with all the pain she was experiencing and her terribly sore throat.

Tony chuckled, expecting Gibbs to come from MTAC and pry the agent of him, but no one came to his rescue. His smile faded and he looked into the shining fire full of pain and anger that filled Ziva's soft, brown eyes. He could understand where the anger came from; he'd obviously interrupted her from something very important. But he had yet to figure out where the deep, sorrowful pain was coming from. The way her eyes darted up and his face, as she waited for him to say something clearly suggested that there was nervousness behind the deep mask she'd created. Her ragged breathing clearly showed she was in pain, though not the pain Tony sensed from her.

He remembered the Gibbs had asked him yesterday at work. Yesterday. When even then he'd thought he felt more horrible then Ziva'd felt. Her eyes had lost there shine, her smile was lost among some deep thought and she'd worn a turtle-neck and a sweat-shirt, though it was summer, yet she still shivered. Even in one day, he could see traces of fatigue reflecting on her sullen face.

"Okay," he felt his urge to tease go away along with all hope he saw in her. She seemed almost hopeless. "I won't tell anyone," her gaze slightly softened as she considered if he was really telling the truth. "I swear."

"Thank you, Tony," she felt a sudden wave of gratitude and trust rush towards the person she held against the wall. She tucked the knife away in a secret compartment and backed away from him. He just peered at her, in a sort of protective way. He then gestured for her to step out of the elevator before him again, though this time he wasn't mocking her. She flashed a half-smile at him before leaving, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear again.

Tony walked out after her, a smile dancing on his lips as well. He'd thought he'd saw trust in her eyes, though he figured it couldn't be true. Never before had Ziva _really_ shown any trust in him. His eyebrows knit in concern as she leaned against the wall as she walked, obviously heavily relying on it to keep her up. '_She probably just sprained an ankle earlier, DiNozzo, stop thinking about the elevator_,' he told himself. '_But I didn't see her limping…_' he smirked as he found himself arguing with himself. '_Oh great. Next I'll start seeing things._'

He noticed something was wrong when she collapsed against the wall, and with an unknown burst of energy, he was at her side before she even touched the floor.

"Tony," Ziva's eyes seemed to begging him. Pleading him for something. '_Another question unanswered_,' his thoughts raced through his head in a frenzy of urgency.

He grabbed her in a hug-like position, his hand gripped protectively on her arm, he noticed her take a deep intake of breath as he did this, but did not stop, and wrapped his other arm around her sides. She left out a small, painful, pleading sound of protest at this. He raised his eyebrows at her, but didn't ask her anything, and instead shifted his arm so it was around her waist instead. He lifted her off the ground, and in a sudden moment, where her head rested on his shoulder, he breathed deeply, a warm feeling spread through him, and he wanted to never stop, he wanted to hold her against him forever, but he remembered the circumstances, and placed her gently on her feet, holding her for a second.

Their eyes met and she smiled a true smile this time, one that was not overcome with pain, in a reassuring way, to let him know that she was okay and could support herself fine this time. But Tony didn't let go. He didn't want to. He could see Ziva's eyes flash with annoyance at his actions, he was ready to apologize, but decided he didn't want to. He didn't care if she didn't enjoy this. He did.

"Let Ziva go, DiNozzo," Gibbs came striding in from MTAC, another steaming cup of coffee grasped in his hands, he took the thick stack of papers he was holding and promptly smacked the back of his head with it, without any hesitation of any sort.

Tony was shook from his state and let go her, wondering what was going on with him and how he couldn't let it happen again. He watched her with protective eyes as she staggered to her desk in the most demeaning way. "Sorry, Boss," he sat in his desk chair, this time spinning it around on purpose, when his eyes fell upon the empty desk across the way, "Where's Probie, Boss?"

"He woke up late, and is stuck in traffic," Gibbs sighed, clearly showing that he wasn't happy at all. He disappeared as Tony turned to him to say something.

Ziva glanced at Tony as she pulled out a couple of documents, her eyes flashing with gratefulness. "Don't mention it, David," he whispered in reply, "Let's just forget it, 'kay? It'd sure make me feel a lot better," Ziva nodded, and bowed her head to continue her work.

Their attention was directed to the elevator, where a "Sorry, Boss!" was heard as McGee stepped from the elevator, running straight into Gibbs, causing his coffee to spill all over him. Ziva and Tony found themselves both laughing.

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><p>"Now, Mr. O'Morrow, I understand you murdered Petty Officer Julia Cooper," Ziva sneered at the dirty, unsanitary man sitting before her as she circled around him, like a lion considering the best way to kill his prey.<p>

"I didn't kill nobody, ma'am," he shook at her terrifying act, but his gaze stayed locked on window ahead of him as he addressed her.

"Sure you didn't," Ziva pulled out the same knife she'd threatened Tony with that morning and started polishing it with a spare piece of cloth.

McGee, Gibbs, and Tony exchanged looks inside the window. She sure was doing a good job. Tony was surprised of the energy boost she'd gotten since her state that morning.

"I s-swear I didn't, m-ma'am. I wouldn't kill n-nobody," O'Morrow replied, a stammer emerging from his lips.

"Did you know Miss Cooper?" Ziva replied coolly, checking her reflection in the metal blade.

"N-no ma'am," he broke his gaze and his green eyes darted around the interrogation room as she continued to circle him, the knife shining brilliantly.

"But you killed her," Ziva persisted.

"M-ma'am, I t-told you, I wouldn't k-kill nobody. Especially not J-Julia," his eyes followed the sharp blade nervously.

"So you did know her. Why did you lie to me, Mr. O'Morrow?" Ziva closed her eyes in a flash as another way of nausea passed over her. She dropped the knife in pain, bent over coughing, and rushed out of the room.

"Ziva!" Tony called softly, his voice dripping with concern, from inside the window. Gibbs strode out of the room as Paul O'Morrow started towards the knife.

"DiNozzo, find her, McGee, stay here," Gibbs called, in a firm voice. The two exchanged concerned glances before he also left the room, leaving the room in the hands of McGee.

She examined her reflection in the mirror. She had to admit she looked pretty terrible. She closed her eyes and slid underneath the sinks, feeling another strong urge to cry.

"Ziva?" she heard Tony's voice call her name, though she couldn't quite process her. She fought back more tears. Who was she? What had happened to her? Why couldn't she stand up for herself? "Ziva?" She didn't open her eyes, though she knew Tony'd found her, and she also knew he had no problem being in the girl's restroom. She felt his arms wrap around her as he persuaded her to come out.

"I can't go back," she whispered, her eyes still shut tight as she fought off the pain threatening to come back.

"We know who the kill is. After you left, Gibbs took over. We for sure know who it is now. Ziva, why don't you come out?" he continued in this way, his voice calm as concern washed over his body.

"Fine," she gave in. "Only if you tell Gibbs I got nervous and went to talk to Ducky," she stared into his eyes, her own reflecting the odd trust again.

"Okay," he replied, smiling brightly as he offered to help her up. She declined, much to his disappointment, and got up on her own, her breathing growing shallower. "Where are you going to go?"

"I'm not leaving the building, I swear," she chuckled in appreciation of his concern.

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><p>"Abby?" Ziva called over the loud music Abby was rocking out to, "Abby!" she walked up and shook the young Goth, her footsteps echoing over the lab.<p>

"Oh, Ziva!" Abby smiled brightly, her red lipstick shining in from the lights of her many monitors, "Have you gotten O'Morrow to confess yet? Did Gibbs send you?"

"No to both, Abby, I'm not feeling all the great," even Ziva knew that was a major understatement to the way she felt. "I came here to rest."

"Did you see Ducky yet?" Abby's face flashed with concern, a look Ziva had grown tired of.

"Yeah, he told me to rest," Ziva lied with difficulty to her eccentric friend.

"Oh, well in the case…" Abby trailed off as she scurried around her lab, lowering the volume of her music, getting out Bert, a dark pillow, and a black sleeping bag. She set up a little area for Ziva in the corner of her lab. Ziva raised an eyebrow as Abby scampered around. "There!" Abby smiled proudly at her work and gestured for Ziva to lie down.

"Thank you so much, Abby," Ziva smiled and settled down in the sleeping bag, curling around her pillow.

"Any time, Ziva," she whispered back, continuing her work.

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><p>Ziva woke in a dimly lit dome, flowers surrounding her. She looked around, an alarmed expression on her face. She jumped up, and instantly regretted it, a new burning pain exploding through her body. She scanned, looking for a gun, but not finding any anywhere.<p>

"Looking for this, babe?" she felt a sense of foreboding linger in the air, along with the distinct smell of beer and blood. She turned around, dreading what she would see. John stood, leaning casually against the wall, her gun in his grubby hands.

"Give it back!" she spat angrily, prepared to charge him. Another wave of hot pain washed over her body. Her knees buckled, but someone held her up.

"Don't touch her, you bastard!" she found Tony supporting her, his eyes set on John.

"Whatcha gonna do? Shoot me?" John mocked. It was then Ziva noticed that Tony didn't have a gun anywhere either. They were now doomed.

"I've considered it," Tony replied in his usual fashion. Ziva didn't like where this was going.

John trained the gun at the both of them. Ziva cried out, her eyes washing with tears as the bullet flashed through the air, hitting Tony directly in the chest. She felt her whole body go numb. "No…no!" She felt them both go down. "Tony!"

"I'll catch ya later, babe," Ziva turned at John her eyes filled with anger, her face pulled into a painful expression. A second later, he was gone.

She turned back to Tony, who breathed a pathetic moan. Her eyes filled with tears. She rested her head on his injured chest. His eyes were glazed over. "Ziva…" he took a shuttering breath, and he raised his hand to stroke her cheek, "I love you," he let it fall limply back at his side.

"Tony, don't do this to me!" She pleaded, stroking his cheek back.

"Tell everybody," he struggled for a breath again, "I say goodbye. Tell Abby not to cry. I don't want her to cry."

"Tony, she won't have to cry! Come on you can survive!" she searched her pockets, tears starting to blind her eyes, in a vain search for a cell phone.

"Ziva," he grabbed her attention back, "I won't make it. Don't tell yourself lies. Just…" he coughed blood as he tried to continue back. Sobs racked Ziva's body, and for once she couldn't notice the pain, "Move on." She rested her head on his chest again, and her sobs grew louder as his breathing stopped.

She was screaming. Screaming for him to come back. "No! Tony! Tony! You can't be dead! Please come back!" Ziva fell to her knees before the man, blood spurting from his chest. "No... Tony... come back. Y-you c-can't leave me with this b-bastard!" She felt tears fall from her eyes at her fallen partner. She sobbed for what seemed like hours.

"Ziva?" She heard Abby's voice in the distance. Oh no. What would she tell Abby? "Ziva are you alright?"

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><p>Ziva woke with a horrible start, and saw Abby's worried face peering through the tears blinding Ziva's vision. "Ziva?" She noticed she had trashed in her sleep, her sleeping bag totally disturbed.<p>

"I'm sorry, Abby," Ziva took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

"Why were you calling for Tony to come back?" Abby helped Ziva into a sitting position.

"I just had a nightmare," Ziva struggled from breath. She heard the doors to Abby's lab open, but Abby didn't seem to notice.

"Are you sure you're okay? You were sweating like crazy; I'd say your temperature was at least one hundred."

Ziva felt an overbearing wave of nausea coming over her, she felt her skin grow clammy and she bent over, un-raveling her legs from the sleeping bag. She noticed Gibbs had entered the room, and he quickly observed the scene, racing over to her, a trash can in his hand. He placed it under her. He gave Abby a questioning look, but Abby just shrugged, indicating she didn't know what was going on either.

They both watched, concern drowning their faces as Ziva puked into the trash can. Abby felt her eyebrows knit, while Gibbs bent next to the agent, rubbing her back. Ziva rocked back on her heels, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, her breathing short and uncontrolled. Gibbs pushed some hair back from her face in a caring way, his expression having remained somewhat calm during the whole thing, while Abby hugged her slightly, saying, "I think you need to take a sick leave, Ziva."

Ziva nodded wearily in agreement, and found herself in Gibbs' arms as the sharp shoots of pain steadily grew worse. She snuggled up against him, and he caressed Ziva's face as Abby called for Ducky to come down.

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><p><strong>AN: Oh man. I even felt sorry for Ziva just writing this! Tell me what you guys think! :) And a review wouldn't hurt, especially since it makes me incredibly happy ;) Thank you all. And because you all are so awesome, I reward you all with Caf-pow and another sneak peak of chapter 4! :)**

**He examined her face closely, as she cowered in the deep sheets of rain. He bent down as she shivered, trying the sleep. He picked her up, and carried her to his car. He felt waves of emotion cross his mind and he considered the many options of why she'd come back. He noticed her too familiar shallow breathing, and the soft noises she made as her head rested on his car window. She stirred, crying out. He caressed her cheek, bringing her from her nightmare. If only he could take her home with him. An idea popped into his head.**

**There it is ^_^ Some deep relationship there ;)**

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><p>TotallyTiva: Aww :) That totally brightened my day. Thank you :) I hope you enjoy this chapter ;)<p>

aquasm: Thank you! I try my best to be awesome(:

Zivancis: Thank you! :)

Chlollierockz: Haha thanks :) I don't like John much either :/ :D

Zoyarose: Thank you very much :) I hope this chapter lives up to my standards :) Hope you enjoyed this one ;)

THANK ALL OF YOU FOR READING! YOU ARE ALL AWESOME!

*Abby hugs for all of you* :)


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey! I've been on a roll writing this story, so I decided to update again ;) Apparently all of your awesome reviews and awesomeness got me going on this story again :) I hope you like this chapter. Slight Tony/Ziva, though it's not real clear and some father/daughter relationship between Gibbs and Ziva :-) Oh yeah, and I came up with a name for the sequel (which I promise I'll write) it's going to be called *drum roll* Hunted: Wherever the Stars Are ;) Yep, sounds awesome doesn't it :) Anyways. Hope you like this one! Buon divertimento!_

_Disclaimer: I (as always) don't own anything you recognize_

_Characters are very AU_

_~Bandit_

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><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Chapter 4

"You're home early," John stood in the doorway of Ziva's apartment, his arms crossed, looking at her in a stern way. It was then that he noticed Tony helping her.

"Tony drove me home," Ziva breathed, looking at John with fear flashing in her eyes. He sent her a warning glance. Tony glared at John, "I'm on sick leave," she grabbed John's hand dismissing Tony. "Thanks Tony."

"Mmhmm," Tony nodded at Ziva, still gazing cautiously at John. John lead Ziva inside, checked to see that Tony had gotten into his car, then slammed the door shut, turning on Ziva.

"Why are you on vacation?" he growled at her as he shoved in into the couch. Ziva looked out the window and noticed faint traces of storm clouds in the distance. She shivered.

"It's not vacation," she looked hard into his eyes, "I-I kind of, well, t-threw up. Ducky, our Medical Examiner, t-told me to come home and r-rest," she stammered as he grabbed her arm and jerked her back up.

"Did you tell them?" their faces were inches from each other as he shoved her against the far wall. Ziva felt her knees buckle, but John's firm grip kept her up, though she knew he didn't mean to help her.

"No, I s-swear," she gagged on the smell of beer mixed in with the permanent, already horrible odor of smoke in his breath.

"Did they see your bruises?" he demanded. His eyes were gleaming with anger.

"No," she murmured, her head starting to pound again.

"But you said this 'Ducky' checked you!" he threw her across the room in his anger.

"H-he only checked me for s-signs of fever or c-cold," she cried out, tears forming in her eyes from the pain.

"Unfortunately for you," he aimed a kick to her trembling form on the ground, "I don't believe you. You're lying."

"I'm not lying!" She covered her face with her hands after he swung a punch at her. This left an easy target for her torso. He quickly kicked her ribs, his eyes flashing menacingly. She curled in a ball, but he just kicked any space that she wasn't covering with her arms.

He soon grew tired of this and staggered to the fridge, opening a new bottle of beer. Ziva crawled into her bedroom, coughs racking her body, the blood mixing with her tears. She listened to John in the living room. He'd turned to TV on again, and she could tell by the smell that he was smoking. She curled up against her bed, not having the strength to lift herself onto it. Hours passed, and she soon heard rain pounding on the window, in rhythm with the hammers that seemed to be beating against the inside of her skull. She didn't sleep. How could she? She was so nervous.

The pain soon began dying away, not enough to let her sleep, and the bleeding eventually stopped. She could feel her breathing grow somewhat calm, her trembling stopping. She heard John guffaw at something he'd seen on TV and she curled more firmly in a ball, knowing how drunk he was. She needed to go back. She jumped every time thunder rumbled outside, her hands shaking hard. Her crying soon stopped, that was when she heard him snoring. Now was the time.

She got up shakily in a sitting position. She felt her breath go away as she got onto her knees. She lifted herself up, careful not to make too much noise, and stood, swaying for a moment. Dots danced around her vision, her head continued to swim. She collapsed on the ground, her energy being sucked away from her. She hated this, she couldn't even stand up. She felt like everything had to be done for her. A wave of nausea passed over her, something that had happened too often that day, as she tried standing again.

This time she succeeded and slowly made for the closed door, her head still swimming. She opened it a bit, not caring if it squeaked or not this time, and staggered out to the living room. She saw John, passed out on the floor, beer bottles strewn about around him, the people on the TV laughing loudly, John's snores mixing into her already horrible headache. She bent down, taking a lamp and hit him over the head with it, insuring he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. She searched his pockets for his car keys and her gun. She stood from her squatting position and swayed again at the sudden movement before heading out the apartment door.

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><p>Ziva stood before the building, rain pouring down on her. She shivered, wearing only a very thin turtle neck and sweat pants, wishing desperately she'd brought some warmer clothes. Though she had been in some kind of a hurry. She'd escaped from John, and was already trembling at the thoughts of what he would do when he woke up. She knew it was late in the night, and recognized only two cars in the parking lot, not including her own. She sighed as she recognized the sports car waiting in the parking area. She looked up at the NCIS building again, and was about to go into the doors when someone came out instead.<p>

"Ziva?"

"Hey, Ducky," Ziva smiled sheepishly.

"What are you doing here?" he frowned at her. "You're supposed to be at home, in bed. Especially since it's almost eleven o'clock."

"Sorry Ducky, I know, I forgot something here," Ziva smiled at him.

"Well make sure you get out of the rain right away," he strode over to her, an umbrella in his hand. Ziva ran her fingers through her soaked hair.

"Of course," she grabbed his hand and patted it. "Is Tony there?"

"Yes, he seems to work better at night," Ducky chuckled.

"Good, I was just hoping he'd help me find it," her lie was easily told, she met Ducky's worried eyes, "You can go now, I'll be fine."

"Well, good night then, Ziva," he looked at her uneasily before he headed off to his car.

"'Night, Ducky," Ziva waved goodbye. She turned around as he drove off, facing the building again. She changed her mind; she'd wait for him instead.

She found a tight space underneath some trees and snuggled in there, looking intently at the door through the sheets of rain, shivering hard, wanting to talk with him.

* * *

><p>Tony emerged from the building of NCIS, sleepy and worn out. He looked around, through the rain, when he saw sudden movement in a bunch of trees off to the side. He pulled his gun and crept forward, aiming it at the trees. Then he saw Ziva, looking horrible. He noticed tons of new gashes on her face, her body trembling from crying, which her eyes red around the rims, her lips tinged blue.<p>

"Ziva," he breathed, he raced forward, pulling his jacket off as he did, and wrapping it around her shoulders. She looked so angelic when she slept, but he could see something was wrong. She should be asleep in her apartment. With _John_.

He sneered, then returned his attention to Ziva, who was now coughing hard as she continued to dream. He examined her face closely, as she cowered in the deep sheets of rain. He bent down as she shivered, trying the sleep. He picked her up, and carried her to his car, bridal style. He felt waves of emotion cross his mind and he considered the many options of why she'd come back. He noticed her too familiar shallow breathing, and the soft noises she made as her head rested on his car window. She stirred, crying out. He caressed her cheek, bringing her from her nightmare. If only he could take her home with him. An idea popped into his head.

He drove quickly along a road that was very familiar. He knew he couldn't keep her, but he knew who could. He turned the heater up on high, as her lips continued to stay blue, even though it was mid-summer. He turned towards the house and slammed his door, surprised that she still hadn't woken up yet. He picked her up once more. He walked up the steps carefully, trying not to move her around to much, because she winced when he did. He rang the doorbell, waiting patently, shifting his weight slightly.

"No… don't kill him again," he heard her mutter in her sleep, before coughing, "You b-bastard. Don't kill him," Tony looked down at her in a concerned way as tears began streaming from her closed eyes.

He didn't notice as the door opened, he was too busy wondering what she could possibly be dreaming about.

"You have better got a good reason of why you decided to come knocking at my door at eleven thirty, DiNozzo," Tony's head snapped up and he smiled at the person.

"Sorry, Boss, I was wondering if you could look after Ziva," Tony indicated to the girl he held in his arms. It was then that Gibbs noticed Ziva.

"You're both soaked," he remarked. Ziva stirred at Gibbs' voice. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Tony.

"T-Tony…?" she whispered, still shaking from the cold. "I n-need to t-talk to you about s-something."

Tony smiled brightly down at her. "Okay, Ziva, but I have to go. You can stay with Gibbs, okay?" Ziva turned her head weakly and noticed Gibbs standing there for the first time.

"That's okay," she snuggled up against Tony some more and fell back asleep.

"Can you watch over her?" Tony met Gibbs' eyes, which were also clouded with concern.

"Of course," Gibbs gestured for Tony to bring her in. He ran up the stairs as Tony placed her on the couch, taking his jacket back. Gibbs returned with a couple of blankets and a pillow.

"Thanks, Boss," Tony tucked into the blankets, relieved to see her stop shivering at last.

"I'm not doin' it for you, DiNozzo," Gibbs replied, "You can leave now," he gestured towards his front door.

Tony put on his jacket, "Sorry, Boss," he took another glance at Ziva before heading out the door. Gibbs made sure Ziva was really asleep before heading up the bed himself.

* * *

><p>Ziva woke with a start, and noticed she was on a couch. She looked around and smiled as she remembered the events of that night. Tony'd found her and brought her to Gibbs, because he had something to do. She sat up weakly and screamed as she came face to face with John, who had a large welt on his forehead and an evil glare in his eye.<p>

Gibbs raced downstairs at the sound, a gun pulled, and he found Ziva curled up in a ball on the ground, sobbing hard, her hands protecting her face, the blanket strewn around her, muttering, "Don't hurt me."

"Ziva?" he didn't put his gun down, but relaxed a little. She lifted her tear stained face and looked around, seeing no one.

"Sorry, I just had a nightmare," she managed, though she hadn't dreamed about him attacking her. She was with Tony when he died again. She had to stop that chain of dreams from reappearing again. "Sorry for waking you up," her soft brown eyes bore into his icy blue ones.

"Don't' apologize. I was awake anyways," he lied to her, finally putting his gun away. "Besides, it's almost time for me to leave," he said, helping her off the ground, then turning to the kitchen.

"I'm going to come with you."

"No you aren't," he argued as he made a sandwich, "You're barely strong enough to stand on your feet. Besides Ducky will kill me if I bring you."

"I'm coming. I don't care what Ducky thinks. I'll be fine, I promise, the mornings are the only time I'm really bad," she protested.

"Ziva," Gibbs warned her as he poured himself something to drink.

"Please?" she pleaded, "I don't want to stay alone. I'll go insane, though I probably already have. I promise I'll get better."

"Eat something," Gibbs handed her a sandwich and a cup of orange juice. Ziva knew the second she took a bite of anything, it would just come back up, but the way Gibbs watched her suggested that if she didn't prove herself healthy, he wouldn't allow her to come.

She scowled and took a bite, forcing it to stay down, and took a drink. She finished the meal in small, horrible bites as Gibbs continued to watch her. She was slightly aware of her sides painfully pounding and her head beginning to complain also. She coughed into her hand. "Do you have any Tylenol?" Gibbs eyed her suspiciously, "For my headache," she sighed, tapping her head lightly. "And can I come?"

Gibbs nodded and smirked at her before heading off to the bathroom for some pills for her. She sighed and collapsed on the couch, knowing it wasn't a good idea to go to work, especially since it took effort to eat. She closed her eyes for a second and was glad Gibbs was so closely watching her. She smiled slightly. Perhaps she would survive this phase. Maybe.

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you all for reading! I hope you liked this chapter! You all are awesome for reivewing (I got three more and I'm plenty happy with that) :) Please continue to review. And here's a sneak peak for chapter 5 because you all are awesome and deserve Caf-pow and Abby hugs :)**

**Tony stood from the horrible plastic chair, the beeping filling his head as John arrived through the doors. **

**"Out," Tony growled, "Get out. I don't want to see your face ever again. _Get out_!"**

**"Or what?" John growled back, stalking towards Tony, his face set, "I could easily kill her while you weren't looking."**

**Tony punched him in the face without heistation, causing his face to bleed, "I dare you to say that one more time, you bastard."**

**"Tony," Gibbs warned from behind him. **

**"Sorry, Boss," Tony said ashamed as John backed out of the white room.**

**"Don't apologize. I was hoping you'd let me punch him next time," they met each other's eyes and they both smiled.**

**Haha! Yeah! Go Tony! Thank you all ;)**

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><p>aquasm: Hope this satisfies you until I post the fifth chapter :)<p>

Terrwinkle7: Thank you! :)

pirate-princess1: Thank you! Is this soon enough? Haha :)


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm glad I got to update! :) My mom caught me writing this at three in the morning (what she was doing awake, I'll never know), but I was afraid I was going to get grounded. I must admit this is not my best work. I write best at night, so just finishing it know makes it pretty crappy :/ But I hope you enjoy it ;) There is some Abby/McGee, Tony and Abby brother/sister, slight Tony and Gibbs father/son and Tony/Ziva :) As I said, not my best work, but I hope the next chapter's even better ;) Buon divertimento!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize_

_Characters are VERY AU_

_~Bandit_

* * *

><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Chapter 5

The sun beat down harshly on her. She struggled for breath as she looked around the park the team stood. Coughs racked her body as she watched the team work, holding limply onto the camera, her eyes glazed over.

"You should take off that turtle neck," Tony strode over to her, a note book in his hands, the sleeves of the NCIS jacket rolled up. Ziva'd considered this. But what if they noticed her bruises? She could bet John would find out.

"Nah, I don't feel that hot," the sweat pouring down her skin gave her away. She coughed harshly again, making Tony jump. She glared at him in an accusing way, "Besides there's nowhere to change."

"I didn't think of that David, I swear," he wiped his own sweat off with a cloth he pulled out of his pocket.

"Sure you didn't," she sighed as the sun continued to glare. They met each others eyes and laughed in unison.

A van pulled up to the sight where they were working. "You know Ducky's going to murder you and Gibbs both," Tony raised an eyebrow, noticing the van too.

Ziva chuckled as she remembered the way she'd so slyly avoided Ducky that morning. He didn't even know that Gibbs had brought her in. She knew he was going to have a fit about her health now. "I'll take my chances. There was no way I was going to stay alone."

Tony noticed Gibbs staring icily at them both leaning against Tony's car, "I'm gonna go investigate some more before I become the fourth person killed today," they laughed together again, but this time Ziva's sides began screaming at her to stop.

"Ziva!" she heard an astonished gasp behind her as she watched Tony head off to the scene again. She turned around to face Ducky.

"Yes?" she raised an eyebrow, acting like she didn't know what he was ticked about.

"Are you wearing a turtle neck in this weather?" Ziva looked down at her clothes.

"Yeah," she looked back up at Ducky, "You were upset about something?"

"You're supposed to be in bed resting. You promised me," she smiled slyly at his incredulousness.

"Well, complications arose, things happened. Gibbs brought me," Ziva twisted a strand of hair around her finger as she spoke coolly.

"Jethro!" she smiled fondly as Ducky strode off the go scold Gibbs. She chuckled to herself and regained her grip on the camera, still sweating buckets.

She continued to take pictures of the suspects, feeling hotter then ever. Her breathing went lopsided and her head pounded even harder from dehydration. She felt herself being watched by the team as she staggered over to the truck. Coughing racked her body, causing blood to come from her mouth; she stared in horror, her throat burning terrible. Her knees buckled as the sun seemed suddenly unbearable, the pain not helping in anyway. She heard voices cry out from what seemed a thousand miles away. Someone caught her before she made contact with the hot ground. Dots danced in her vision, the heat burning the inside of her. She felt like she was in hell. And she blacked out.

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><p>"Ziva!" Tony was the first to see her fall, and he dove forward to catch her before she hit the ground. "Ducky!" he got everyone's attention. He saw the sweat glistening on her flushed face, her breathing uncontrollable. '<em>At least she's breathing…<em>' he told himself as he took the notebook and fanned her face.

"What happened, Anthony?" Ducky noticed the problem Tony was having, holding Ziva.

"I was watching her and she just fainted," he gulped hard, and set her gently down on the ground for Ducky to examine. Gibbs and McGee noticed and looked over.

"Anthony would you please go get a water bottle? Timothy, a knife?" Ducky said without even looking up as he checked her pulse. He took the knife McGee was handing him and cut off the NCIS jacket she was wearing. He examined her arms, which were covering in bruises and cuts. Last night, when she seemed so lost, the bruises, her running from everything. He put everything together and closed his eyes in distress, "Oh Ziva…"

"Here's the water bottle," Tony panted from running to go find it.

"Thank you," Ducky quickly placed it on the ground, and felt Ziva's ribs. Gibbs and Ducky exchanged glances as Ducky gave a deep sigh. "Timothy will you please contact an ambulance?"

"An ambulance?" McGee's eyes widened and he gulped in surprise.

"Come on McGee!" Gibbs turned on him.

Ducky took the water bottle and asked Tony to help him sit her up, "Gently please, she's very injured."

"Injured?" Tony asked as he helped Ducky get Ziva into a sitting position.

"Yes, very injured," Ducky seemed awfully solemn. Tony didn't like it. He poured water down Ziva's mouth, making her swallow.

"I guess I'll find out what happened soon enough?" Tony turned to Gibbs. No one replied.

* * *

><p>There was absolute silence as the team waited impatiently in Bethesda for the doctors to come. McGee held a crying Abby. Tony was leaning against the wall, fighting back tears himself. He noticed Gibbs was looking distressed to be in the hospital, and even worse considering the actual reason he was in the hospital. Tony gave a resolute sigh and tried to imagine a time before something odd began going on with Ziva. A year ago. He looked down at his feet, saying to himself over and over again that he should have been there to protect her. He ran his fingers through his hair, realizing that it was his fault Ziva was lying in a bed somewhere in a hospital. He looked up and met Gibbs eyes, which clearly scolded him for thinking that.<p>

Tony chuckled, embarrassed, and sighed heavily again. How he wished he could see her again.

"I'm going to go get some coffee," McGee stood up, since Abby's sobs had reduced to sniffling and he could leave her in the hands of someone else, "Tony, you want anything?"

He shook his head numbly and continued thinking. He flinched at the sound of the door closing. Guilt overwhelmed him. No matter what Gibbs or his eyes said. He noticed Abby and Gibbs signing each other. Abby's hands were limp also, it was lacking it her usual perk. He winced and continued staring at the door. No way had this happened. Any better person would have saved her. From whatever was going on.

"Tony?" he jumped and looked at Abby, who was gesturing at him to come sit next to her, her green eyes, now dull, gazing into him. He strode over to the plastic chair and slumped heavily into it. He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair again. Abby's hand reached up and grabbed his hand, her eyes looking into him in a caring way.

"Yeah, Abs?" he whispered, squeezing her hand.

"Are you okay?" she looked down and continued to meet his eyes, "Gibbs was just asking about you. You know, since you were totally zoning out," she gestured to Gibbs, who was sitting a couple of seats down, his hand over his mouth, his blue eyes trained on the picture on the opposite wall.

Tony chuckled harshly, "Oh yeah, Abby, I'm okay. I mean a member of my team passed out and has been vomiting all week, but you know I'm perfectly peachy," he replied icily, his voice dripping with sarcasm trace of a growl at his harsh words. Abby sighed at his reply, her green eyes saying "We were just worried." She got up and sat next to Gibbs instead.

He sighed, ashamed at his answer, but not wanting to change it. It was how he felt. He wasn't in the mood for apologizing. He bent his head as he continued his dangerous thoughts. Perhaps if he wished it enough, Ziva would be just fine, and it would be his fault, but he knew neither of that was true. Whatever had happened wasn't going to leave anyone unscarred. He gulped and leaned back in his chair again.

He scowled at McGee as he emerged through the double doors, a two steaming cups of coffee and a cup of Caf-pow in his hands. McGee frowned at Tony as he passed by, and sat down next to Abby, clearing saying to them both, "What's up with Tony?" Abby shrugged and accepted the caffeinated drink.

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><p>All four of them sat, not wanting to say anything, exchanging looks. Hours passed. Tony met with Abby's eyes and mouthed "Sorry." Abby glowered at him, and shook her head, clearly not wanting to forgive him. '<em>Great<em>,' Tony told himself, '_Now you've lost two members of your team._' He quickly threw that thought out of his head. He saw Gibbs' face, which clearly reflected disappointment, his icy eyes stone cold. A new wave of guilt and shame rushed through him. He noted that Probie wasn't even looking into his eyes.

He met Abby's eyes again and quickly signed "I love you", something he'd learned from Gibbs. She smiled quietly and signed it back. Tony raised his eyebrows in question and Abby nodded. Tony felt a huge sense of relief. He smiled at Abby and stood up to get sit next to her, when Ducky appeared out of the hospital area, Tony stopped in his tracks, and the air seemed to be sucked out of the room in anticipation as the team looked at Ducky to tell them what's going on.

"Ziva has been moved to ICU, where the doctors would like to speak with us," Ducky said with certain grimness, suggesting he didn't know what was going on.

They all moved quickly, trying to regain calmness as they made their way to the ICU room to visit Ziva. The doctors met them outside her room, which was hidden with a curtain.

"You all know Ziva, right?" one of the female doctors, whose name was Cindy Blankett, examined them all as she spoke with a dull tone.

"Obviously," Abby snapped, wanting to know what was wrong with Ziva and if she was going to be okay.

"Well, Ziva has a number of things wrong with her, I'm surprised you didn't bring her in earlier," her eyes scanned over them all, a sort of scolding look to them, and then she met Gibbs' eyes, making her clear her throat and continue, "She has pneumonia, stage one lung cancer, which we have surgically removed, and it has been successful, though she has to rest for a while, four broken ribs, two bruised rib, and many severe bruises, penetrating the tissue."

They all stood in silence. Tony felt weak, his mind processing it all. "The bruising was caused by severe striking from a hand or small object, meaning someone gave her the bruises. Do any of you know who would do this?" another doctor, this one named Jorge Strickland, asked softly, a lot more considerate then Doctor Blankett.

Tony ran his fingers through his hair again, considering, and then gasping, "No…" he put his hand over his mouth. He met Gibbs' eyes, and he knew he was right. _John_.

The doctors led them into Ziva's room, and Tony nearly fainted. She lay there, passed out on the bed, her hands lying limply at her side; so many tubes were connected to her that Tony couldn't even recognize to person underneath it. Machines beeped in the distance, that in itself nearly drove Tony insane. Her skin was clammy, and she was still shaking uncontrollably, but she looked so much more peaceful, like she finally believed she was safe from John. And then Tony thought. He should have known. All those cuts and bruises. He turned away from Ziva, tears threatening to fall, and he noticed Gibbs literally running away from the scene. Tony raced after him, leaving the doctors and the rest of them watching Ziva's breathing come out in short gasps, though an IV was stuck in her arm.

Gibbs escaped outside the hospital, his own breathing short. Tony came out shortly after him. "You're supposed to be in the room," Gibbs snapped at Tony as he noticed him come out the doors.

"I couldn't handle it, Boss," Tony whispered, "You couldn't either?"

Gibbs shook his head, "It felt like it was my fault."

Tony nodded, suggesting he felt the same way, "We both should have known that she was being abused."

Gibbs walked past him, emotion still gnawing at him, but he instead slapped the back of Tony's head as he walked back in the doors, "It's not your fault."

"Gee, thanks, Boss. But you know it's not your fault either."

* * *

><p>The team sat in Ziva's room, watching her sleep. Tony was in a plastic chair next to Ziva's bed, a firm grip on her shaking hand. Abby sat on the opposite side of the bed, her head resting on McGee's shoulder, who sat next to her, hugging the Goth. Gibbs and Ducky sat talking in the two chairs hiding in the corner. Visiting hours were almost over, but they were all set on not leaving. Tony stared into her unresponsive face. He caressed her tube-covered cheek, earning a smile from the sleeping girl. He chuckled weakly and rubbed her hand. He was just about to get up for a coffee break, something they were all in need of, when an evil chill washed over his body. He turned around the face the clear door, when he saw the evil snake. Tony stood from the horrible plastic chair, the beeping filling his head as John arrived through the doors.<p>

"Out," Tony growled, "Get out. I don't want to see your face ever again. _Get out_!"

"Or what?" John growled back, stalking towards Tony, his face set, "I could easily kill her while you weren't looking."

Tony punched him in the face without hesitation, causing his face to bleed, "I dare you to say that one more time, you bastard."

"Tony," Gibbs warned from behind him.

"Sorry, Boss," Tony said ashamed as John backed out of the white room.

"Don't apologize. I was hoping you'd let me punch him next time," they met each other's eyes and they both smiled. But their smiles faded just as quickly as they returned their attention back to Ziva.

"How did he figure out she was here?" Abby whispered from the opposite side of the room. The team met each other's eyes, a sense of foreboding filling the air.

"I don't know Abs," Gibbs sighed and returned to his seat next to Ducky.

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><p>Tony sat alone next to Ziva, "You know Zee-vah, I nearly died today. You scared me half-to-death. But I love you anyways," he muttered to her, both his hands grasped onto her left hand. "And I nearly killed John as pay back. Nearly. Gibbs and I were so tempted. We should've taken him to the police, but we were so distraught," Tony continued whispering to her.<p>

Tony nearly jumped ten feet in the air as her eyes opened ever so slightly. "So you're awake, huh?" he leaned forward again and he thought he saw her smile slightly. "Good. Because I wanted to do this while you were awake," he leaned forward more and kissed her on the lips. It was a short, sweet, passionate kiss, and he pulled away quickly, but he knew this time for sure she was smiling. "Now listen up, you, don't you ever try to hide stuff from us again. We'll make sure you're okay," she tried laughing, but it just ended as a horrible cough, and Tony rubbed her hand as she hacked. "Good night," he whispered as the energy of being awake, coughing, and smiling was starting to take its toll on her, and she began drifting to sleep without meaning to.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you liked it! I love how you guys review and give me alerts and stuff :D It makes me SO happy. Please continue your awesomeness and continue to review! :)**

**Here's a sneak peak for chapter six (which I think is going to be pretty short)**

**Tony sat on the couch, watching TV, his gun out. He thought he heard bloodcurling screams, which weren't coming from his TV. He figured it was just Ziva watching some sort of horror movie, but something was nagging at the back of his head. The screams continued and then they were mixed with the screaming of "Help!". Tony chuckled. She sure was watching something horrid. And then he realized why he was so unsettled. **

**_Ziva didn't have a TV in her room._**

**Oooh! Scary! :) Cliff hanger. Hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Zoyarose: Hopefully ;) Thanks for being such an awesome reviewer :D<p>

ForeignMusicLyrics: I hope this answers some problems ;) Here you go! Thanks for reviewing :)

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING *Abby hugs and Caf-pow*


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey! Told you it was going to be short, haha :) Not my best work here either. Oh man, I better start writing good, or else I get writer's block. Not good... Anyways, because I forgot to mention it in the last chapter, Ziva got lung cancer from secondhand smoke. Sorry :/ I totally forgot that you guys don't know what I mean... Anyways, you don't have to wait long for the next chapter, because I am so ready for the ending chapter. Only two more left! ;) And just to let you know, characters are pretty AU. And by pretty I mean VERY. So, buon divertimento!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize_

_Characters are very AU_

_~Bandit_

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><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Chapter 6

_Seven weeks later…_

"'Night, Zee-vah," Tony whispered as the agent's eyes closed in relief. He knelt down by her bed and took her hand, kissed it, the exited her bedroom, smiling gently. He opened the squeaky door and shut it quickly behind him, cursing in his mind as he did so. The doctors had ordered Tony to let her sleep as much as she could, since she was still recovering from surgery and pneumonia.

He tiptoed to her fridge, and got a can of soda, prepared to stay up all night. He was, after all, in charge of protecting her from John. He slumped in the old, musty couch that sat in the living room and switched on the TV, turning it way down and changing channels until he found a show he liked. There wasn't anything on at midnight. Well, there wasn't anything _good_ on at midnight.

He recalled the case the team was working on. It wasn't the same. Abby was still incredibly worried, she'd miss stuff she shouldn't when she was testing evidence, and there was a depressing feeling hanging in the air without Ziva there. Tony had no one to joke with. It made stuff too serious. He didn't like it at all. They were only aloud to see Ziva once a week, rules made by Gibbs so they could take her mind off her and work on the case. It didn't work that well.

They had agreed that Ziva be with someone at all times, after John somehow found out she was in the hospital. It kind of scared them all. He relaxed against the couch, not really paying attention to the show, instead he was thinking about Ziva. Gibbs had told him to skip work to protect her at all costs. Tony had to stay up all day, only being able to sleep when either Gibbs or McGee came to watch her. He still stayed at her apartment, though. He couldn't leave her alone. Not now.

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><p>Ziva didn't want to wake up, not when she was this tired. She could feel her head start to pound as something glass shattered in the distance. She rolled over; blocking the sound out, figuring it was just Tony being clumsy. Her ribs screamed as she was roughly shoved.<p>

"Wake up, Ziva!" she didn't open her eyes, not saying a word, thinking it was Tony, telling her it was the morning and she had to wake up for therapy or something. '_Funny_,' she thought, '_I didn't hear the door open. And it doesn't seem light outside_,' "Wake up!"

She squirmed as Tony began to yell at her. She finally gave in, knowing he would get his way sooner or later. And she screamed, but her mouth was covered by his hand. She found herself staring into the insane eyes of John Belgate.

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><p>Tony heard glass break from Ziva's room, and he instantly grabbed his gun, but he didn't hear anything after, so he figured it was her just starting to watch TV or something. He was prepared to go scold her for not sleeping, but he didn't feel like it, it just wouldn't seem right. He sighed as he relaxed his hand and continued watching the movie.<p>

* * *

><p>"Now, if you'll be a dear, please don't scream," his voice was rough and hoarse. Ziva could tell he'd been drinking by the way he looked. He pulled two bandanas out of his left pocket and tied one around her hands, the other around her head, so it was covering her mouth. Her eyes were filled with anger and fear. She didn't want this to happen. Where was Tony?<p>

He grabbed her roughly by the arm, shoving her against the wall again. Her eyes filled with tears. This was going to be bad.

She cried on the floor, her face bruised and bloody, she was sure all of her ribs were broken now. She got the bandana out of her mouth and started screaming with all the energy she had left, her blood-mixed tears blinding her, but John didn't stop. She was screaming for Tony, but her mouth didn't obey. She wished she could die right then and there, but of course her wish couldn't come true.

* * *

><p>Tony sat on the couch, watching TV, his gun out. He thought he heard bloodcurdling screams, which weren't coming from his TV. He figured it was just Ziva watching some sort of horror movie, but something was nagging at the back of his head. The screams continued and then they were mixed with the screaming of "Help!" Tony chuckled. She sure was watching something horrid. And then he realized why he was so unsettled.<p>

_Ziva didn't have a TV in her room._

"Damn it!" Tony jumped up from the couch and raced to her room as fast as he could, his gun held in front of him. He broke through her door without checking to see if it was locked, and shot John, who was attempting to escape through the broken window quickly, but his drunken state made it near impossible anyways.

Tony shot him in the leg without a second thought and he fell with a shout. Tony handcuffed him to the bed, and hit him over the head with his gun. He just wished he could kill him, but he wanted John to suffer. So badly. He then turned, to Ziva, who was lying unconscious on the floor. "No…" Tony moaned and he fell next to her, tears filling his eyes. He'd let this happen. Her face was unrecognizable from the welts and bruises. He didn't even want to see the rest of what he'd done. He checking her pulse, which was very thin, her chest was rising with difficulty. He took out his cell phone and called an ambulance and the police. After that he called Gibbs, his voice barely working.

He couldn't just wait; he took one of the pillowcases and used it to stop some of the bleeding, all the time he was apologizing through his sobs. Gibbs found him passed out on the floor next to Ziva, his hand in hers. He sighed and woke up Tony, helping him up and telling him he did a good job. Even he had to lie sometimes.

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><p><strong>AN: AWWWWWWW! So sad... and pretty scary. Hoped you liked it :) Please review some more, 'cause it keeps me writing. That and caffiene ;) Review = Happy Bandit**

**Here's a sneak peak for chapter 7:**

**There was a sullen air, the two of them waiting for the rest of the team arrive. They exhanged glances, and Tony almost sobbed as he looked back at the sleeping Ziva. He felt a sudden sharp pain at the back of his back, he chuckled, "Thanks Boss, I needed that."**

**"You sure as hell did."**

**:] So. Have a great day! And remember to review!**

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><p>aquasm: I'm glad they all know too x] Thanks for reviewing :)<p>

pirate-princess1: Yes, she had lung cancer XD I hope this is soon enough...? Thank you for reviewing :)

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING :) IT MAKES ME SOOOOO HAPPY!


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey :D Yes this is the last chapter, but you still have an epilogue to go through. I finished this earlier this evening, that's why I'm posting it so early. :) Hope you enjoy this one. It's meant to be all sappy. And have I told you all how much I love you guys? You're the bomb, like literally. Reviews and alerts make me so happy and keep my creative juices flowing (luckily I've gotten alot of those lately). :) So anyways, please enjoy this AU'd fic. I might as well change the names and make it a original story. But that takes the fun out of it doesn't it? Buon divertimento!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize_

_Characters are insanely AU (like 'Mad Hatter' insane), yet for some reason you guys still like to read it. I will never know why :)_

_~Bandit_

* * *

><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Chapter 7

"_Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" – Brain Littrell _

"I'm sorry," Tony looked down at his feet, apologizing for the fifteenth time. Gibbs sighed and didn't say anything. They stood outside Ziva's room, both feeling insanely beaten. There was a sullen air; the two of them waiting for the rest of the team arrive. They exchanged glances, and Tony almost sobbed as he looked back at the sleeping Ziva. He felt a sudden sharp pain at the back of his back, he chuckled, "Thanks Boss, I needed that."

"You sure as hell did."

"Gibbs! Is she okay?" Gibbs held out his hand to stop a speeding Abby, her black boots clapping on the shiny hospital floor, from bursting into Ziva's hospital room. The rest of the team looked exhausted, having being woken up at two in the morning for the most horrible reason.

"Only one visitor at a time," Gibbs ordered, "She hasn't woken up yet," McGee and Ducky stepped back, meaning to let Abby go first. She looked at Gibbs for help, not wanting to go alone.

But she decided her pouting wasn't going to change the rules, so instead she hugged Tony, who looked absolutely horrible, and went into the room. The four stood around as minutes passed, all looking at each other, not knowing what to say, it was a good thing, because no one really wanted to talk anyways. Abby returned a half an hour later, tears flooding her eyes, interrupting the team's game of 'Go Fish', but she just sat down, heavily, not letting anyone hug her and watched their game through her tears, which was ruining her makeup, much to her displeasure.

And no one else really wanted to go into to see Ziva after that. They all stayed in the waiting room all night, except for Ducky, who had to go home to his mother, even though they were all ordered to go home. Nothing would compel them to do that. Five hours later, at seven in the morning, Tony and McGee were playing another game of 'Go Fish', neither of them able to sleep, when Doctor Blankett arrived through the double doors. She scowled at Abby and Gibbs, who were sleeping peacefully on the waiting room's chairs.

"Are any of you here for Miss Ziva David," she said in a bored voice, which woke up Abby and Gibbs, even though she knew the answer, she had only seen them all two days ago.

She was met with four glares. "Sorry, but Ziva is now awake, and you can all go see her," she whispered and quickly scurried out of the room. Tony got up rather stiffly from the plastic chair, and helped Abby up, thinking of nothing better to do. There was no question of who would be seeing her first.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ziva," Abby whispered as she entered the room. She remembered earlier that morning, when she'd sobbed.<p>

"Why are you wearing pajamas?" Ziva asked with much difficulty, an obvious strain in her voice, as she struggled to breathe deeply. Abby looked down at her skull covered pajamas with surprise, having forgotten that she'd been waken from her sleep.

"Gibbs wanted to call us all in at two in the morning. It was a shame too, I was having a good dream," she cracked a shy smile, and they both laughed, but Ziva ended up coughing. Abby's happy face twisted into worry, then shame.

"Don't feel bad, it wasn't your fault," Ziva said, yawning.

"You shouldn't fall asleep now," Abby chuckled, "You still have some more people to talk to. You have no idea how nervous we've been."

Ziva raised an eyebrow, "Oh I don't?"

"Nope," Abby smiled some more, and then she heard a tapping. She turned to look through the clear window, and saw Gibbs tapping on it, and then signing 'Time for another visit.' "I've got to go."

"Bye, Abby," Ziva smiled, and grabbed Abby's hand. She squeezed it then let her hand fall limply back to the bed. Abby smiled at her, glad Ziva was in such a good mood. Sadness washed over her as she got another look at Ziva, who was smiling at her, her face covered in bruises and cuts, before leaving the room, letting another person go to talk to the miserable agent.

She passed Ducky, who'd been called by Tony, and slumped down in a waiting room chair next to McGee, letting herself cry now that Ziva wasn't anywhere near. She felt McGee hug here, "It's going to be fine, Abs."

"How are you sure?" Abby cried out, burying her face in his shoulder, her voice incredulous. McGee sighed and took her shaking hand.

"Because she's got us."

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><p>"Hey Ducky," Ziva smiled, still tired from her encounter with Abby. "I suppose you all are going to visit me?"<p>

"You haven't even seen the beginning yet, dear," Ducky sighed. Ziva laughed, her eyes bright.

"I know," she stared off wistfully into the far wall, "I've been informed by Abby."

"You know, this reminds me of a case I once had, a poor young women found herself at the bottom of a lake," Ziva chuckled as he started his story, "She had no recognition of the incident at all. The next day she disappeared. Another man was found, poor boy, deeply in love with the girl," at this point Ziva was laughing so hard, her face was red, "The day after that she was found dead—,"

"Ducky," Ziva interrupted him, still laughing from his story. He looked at her in surprise, "I need to breathe thank you. And Gibbs is telling you your turn is over," she pointed to the window.

"Sorry, Ziva."

"It's okay, Ducky," she tapped his shoulder and he left silently. She relaxed in her bed and smiled, waiting for her next visitor, somehow getting more energy.

* * *

><p>"Hi, Ziva," McGee whispered shyly, walking quickly into her room.<p>

"I'm not dying, McGeek," Ziva whispered back, raising an eyebrow, "See?" she shouted.

"It's a hospital Ziva, you're supposed to be quiet," McGee said frantically. Ziva snorted. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I did just get almost beaten to death, had surgery and pneumonia a couple of weeks ago, broke all my ribs, and I'm almost too exhausted to even open my eyes. All in all, I feel orangey," Ziva smirked.

"Peachy, Ziva," McGee corrected her, "And you've been spending too much time with Tony."

Ziva scrunched up her nose, and her eyes widened, "I have haven't I? Oh no…"

"That's okay. Well I'm going to go now," McGee stood from the chair.

"But Gibbs hasn't called you yet," she protested, but he was already scampering from the room. She sighed, and closed her eyes for a second, before opening them again, afraid of what would happen if she fell asleep. Would she have nightmares? Would something bad happen while she was resting? She didn't want to find out.

* * *

><p>"Ziva," Gibbs walked into the room.<p>

"Hey, Boss," she smiled, sitting up in the hospital bed.

"How're you feeling?" he sat next to her, and she took his hand.

"Kind of crappy," she said, this time not joking. She met his eyes. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble."

Gibbs looked at her incredulously, "What are you talking about?"

"I've caused so many things to happen," she whispered, scanning Gibbs' shocked face before looking at the wall, "And now you've lost an agent because I was too ashamed to tell you. Because I thought you couldn't protect yourselves."

"What are you _talking_ about?" he repeated, staring hard into her eyes.

"I'll never be able to be a NCIS agent with my lungs now. And my ribs. They'll be hard to recover from. It's going to be almost impossible. And if I can't trust anyone, I'll never be able to work with someone again," she sighed. Gibbs cupped her chin.

"David, you are the _stupidest_ agent I've ever heard of. You're worse then _Tony_," Ziva frowned at him, "But you are also the strongest, bravest, person I know. What you did was not entirely wrong. You just need to know we _will_ help you. All of us here today. And you _will_ recover. I will do _whatever_ it takes to get you better. And no one will stop you from being an agent. You got that?" They stared at each other for a time.

"No I won't be able to recover."

Gibbs got up and started to leave the room, "Well, good bye then," Ziva stared at him.

"Wait!" she begged desperately, surprise and terror washed over her.

"What?" Gibbs stopped in his tracks.

"You were right! I'll be able to recover."

He turned slightly back to her, to reveal an elfish-half-smile, "Really?" sarcasm dripped from his words.

"Sorry," she bent her head down, looking ashamed.

"Apologizing is a sign of weakness," he continued to go through the door. She smiled ever so slightly.

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><p>Tony stood by her bed. They watched each other. And said nothing. Ziva sat up, her breathing shallow, her eyelids drooping. She looked rueful, almost ashamed of him. Guilt covered his face like a mask, not daring to sit down in reach of her hands. Ziva's lips were pursed, while Tony was biting his. But he didn't move. Ziva narrowed her eyes.<p>

"You either say something or leave," her voice sounded more hostile then intended. Tony's shoulders slumped and scratched his arm.

"I'm sorry Ziva," he muttered. Ziva threw up her arms in frustration.

"For what?" she cried.

"For letting him get to you," he murmured, blinking hard.

"For god's sake, Tony! You are _ridiculous_! Not one of us, except for _you_, blames you for that!" she sat up and shook her head, "You are so retarded."

Tony's eyebrows knit, "You're not mad at me?"

"Tony," she sighed, "You did your best. John did a good job of hiding that he was attacking me. You can't always be good at what you do. Am I going to have to be partners with a person who always blames himself?"

Tony shook his head and barely smiled. He stepped forward and knelt by her bed, looking into her eyes. She sat forward and slapped him. "Ouch!" he rubbed his cheek.

"That was for being so conceited! Always thinking you did everything," she smiled lightly, and then kissed him on the lips. "And that was for being so sweet."

So Tony kissed her back.

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><p><strong>AN: Aw! That's so cuuuute! Haha, I'm not a fan of romance, so I don't really mean that. I don't like romance, I just enjoy writing it ;) Reviews make me happy :) **

**Sneak peak for the EPILOGUE (I am the champion!) :**

**Their embrace wouldn't end. And neither of them wanted it to. She smiled at his pleasure, and then she punched him in the stomach and darted off in the other direction. He chased her to the elevator before he grabbed her from behind, spun her around, and kissed her passionatly. **

**"Let's go," Gibbs walked past them, slapping Tony on the back of his head. Tony snickered and he and Ziva exchanged glances before she kicked him in the shin and walked off the elevator without him.**

**Don't you just love their relationship? Haha. :)**

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><p>pirate-princess1: America c(: John most certainly deserved it, I was happy to write it. Thank you for reviewing ;)<p>

xx Camille Elizabeth Storm xx: Thank you ;) Hope this is soon enough :)


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey all! I'm sorry for the late update. The internet wasn't working for a while :/ But I'm glad it's back up! I hope you enjoy this chapter! ;) It's the epilogue, so yeah... Buon divertimento!_

_Oh yeah! I would also like to thank ever single one of my awesome reviewers! Here's to you, Zoyarose, mysterywriter94, Chlollierockz, ForeginMusicLyrics, TotallyTiva, aquasm, Zivancis, Terriwinkle7, pirate-princess1, and xx Camilla Elizabeth Storm xx. You guys rock! ;)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you reconize._

_Characters are very AU_

_~Bandit_

* * *

><p>Hunted<p>

Burning Embers

Epilogue

She looked around the dull room and sighed, the cracked walls, stained ceilings, and broken lights bringing back horrible memories. It'd been two months since John had been thrown in prison. Two months since she'd been set free from the horrible burden. And she'd prayed she'd never have to come back. But she had to. She ran her fingers along the dust-covered, creaky, couch and sneered at the old TV. She'd never have to lie to her team again. Ever.

Ziva David felt tears forming as she looked at the blood stains on the carpet, but she forced them back and scowled at her weakness. She'd done enough crying to last a lifetime. She didn't want to anymore. She sucked up lots of air and looked around one last time. Then she turned, her chin held high, and slammed the door behind her. She flew down the steps and opened the silver sports car's door and slid into the passenger side, smiling as she watched the driver, Tony DiNozzo, sleep, his mouth help wide open, loud, raucous snores bursting from it. How long she'd been wallowing in her past, she'd never know, but for now she needed to get back to the present. She got onto her knees, and pressed her hands against the driver's chest, leaned in and nibbled his neck.

"Wake up, my little teddy bear," she whispered in to his ear, he made an odd, grunting noise, and Ziva held back laughter, before she kissed him on the forehead, and tickled him in the armpits. He shot up from his relaxed position, and Ziva lurched backwards, avoiding what would have been a nasty head collision. She snickered, a glimmer in her eyes from the satisfaction.

"Ziva!" he growled, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth, and rubbing his forehead, where he'd hit the steering wheel in his shock. She giggled, smiling innocently at him. She returned to the regular sitting position in the leather seat, buckling her seatbelt with a smirk. She noticed him staring at her murderously.

"We'd better get going," she reflected his glower and her smile grew wider, "You know how Gibbs is when we're late," Tony sneered at her and pressed a hand against his forehead, where a bruise was forming, Ziva glanced at him for a moment, "Maybe I should drive, seeing as you're not feeling too good."

Tony muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, and Ziva could barely make out something that sounded suspiciously like "Over my dead body."

"What was that?" she blinked at him, "Maybe you should speak up," she then leaned towards him and whispered, "I can make that happen, Tony."

Tony chuckled harshly in a mock tone, which made Ziva giggle harder. "Maybe we should take a side trip," he grinned at her deviously, "I've always wanted to know how Gibbs would react to you being permantly missing."

"And I've always wanted to know how he'd react to me strangling you," she shot back; her eyebrows raised high, daring him for another attack.

The rest of the car ride was silent, save for the occasional giggle from Ziva as she watched the scenery fly past, thinking about God knows what, an air of defeat lingering around Tony.

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><p>The car sped into the parking lot, and made a nastily sharp turn into a parking space, where the engine was shut off with a triumphant "Hah!" Ziva and Tony both darted out of the car. "Told you I could beat your time!" Tony said as he did a weird little victory dance.<p>

"Barely," she sneered at his odd dance.

"And I even got pulled over twice!" he called out, pride dripping from his voice, "I got here faster then anybody ever has! Including Miss Ziva David!" he shouted to the shops across the street as if he just won the lottery.

"Ugh!" she called out, "You are so annoying! Did you know that?"

"No more annoying then you, David," he shot back, striding towards her, the wind starting to pick up, making her dark hair fly out behind her. He was frozen for a moment, staring at her with affection, as he stood, her hands on his hips, a displeased expression on her face, her hair whipping about rapidly. He shook himself from his thoughts and continued to advance on her, standing right before her, where they started arguing again.

Gibbs stood with obvious anger, having just arrived from the elevator, getting ready to look for the two who now stood face to face in the parking lot of the NCIS building. He watched them, his mouth twisted into something of a scowl and smirk. He was about to step forward and stop them, not to nicely either, when the words, "I can't believe I even like you! Much less kissed you!" erupted from Ziva, her obvious annoyance and anger clearly showing, her nose scrunched up, her knuckled white from her holding them so tightly in balls.

Tony froze at her words, an odd feeling washing over him, and he gazed deeply into her eyes, and for a moment, he wished she'd take back to words. That she'd apologize. But of course she didn't. So he stepped forward, "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it."

She stepped away, and met his eyes, "I didn't," she scrunched up her nose, scanning Tony's sullen face before heading in the direction of the NCIS building, when she suddenly realized something. She paused ever so slightly and turned towards him. He was watching her with such intensity that it made her shudder with longing. What she longed for, she had yet to figure out. "Tony," she began quietly, scratching her arm. He raised his eyebrows at her, hoping for an apology, "I need a place to stay… I was… I was wondering if I could stay with you," Tony was sure anyone watching him could see disappointment literally reflecting off him. Of course she wouldn't apologize. It was un-Ziva-like. Yet so was asking him if she could stay in _his house_ with _him_. For a moment he thought she was pulling some sort of prank on him, yet when he looked in her eyes again, he noticed the utmost sincerity. If she was pulling a prank, she was doing one hell of a job covering it. He sighed.

"Of course," he muttered. Ziva eyes brightened, and a smile crept onto her face.

"Thank you Tony," she whispered. He returned the smile, and grabbed her arm gently, pulling her back towards him. And they were suddenly interlocked in a strong embrace, their lips meeting once again. Her arms were closed tightly around his neck, his on her waist, and their kiss didn't stop for a while. Gibbs watched, an eyebrow raised the temptation to yell at them almost overwhelming. Almost.

They pulled apart, slightly, their noses almost touching. "Make sure you have a bed ready for me," she whispered into his ear, with a bored voice, indicating that the kiss meant nothing to her. That was, of course, a totally lie.

"What makes you think we'll be sleeping in different beds?" Tony whispered back, sending chills down Ziva's back. She wrenched herself from his grip and slapped him hard on the cheek, then flew off towards the elevator, having spotted Gibbs. "Ow!" Tony yelped, holding a hand against his now beet-red cheek. He sprinted off after her, and once arriving at the elevator, stared at her, "What was that for?"

Ziva stared at him with a stunned expression, and then she shook her head. Tony felt a sharp force hit the back of his head. He turned to Gibbs, and asked the same question.

"That, DiNozzo, was for being so idiotic I had to compare Ziva to you," Ziva burst out in giggles, her face lighting up again as they traveled farther up into the building.

* * *

><p>The silver doors opened, and Tony and Ziva walked out, side by side, arguing again, and Gibbs followed them, rubbing his temples, sighing. McGee paused from his work, his fingers frozen in his position, his eyebrows furrowed at the sudden disruption. Gibbs slammed his coffee down on his desk and turned on Ziva and Tony, who were know standing in the hallway, their voices steadily raising. "All right, enough!" Gibbs shouted as long as he could. Ziva jumped as Tony spun around. "Just shut up!" he sat down, and stared at the computer screen, ignoring their surprised looks, drinking his coffee somewhat steadily.<p>

Ziva and Tony exchanged looks, and held back laughter. McGee stood, and whispered, "Welcome back, Ziva," as he shook her hand. Ziva shook her hand and smiled.

"We're not in the hospital anymore, McGirlScout," Tony burst out laughing, earning a look from McGee, but Ziva just smiled at him and winked. The three sat on their desks, talking, as Gibbs kept disappearing and appearing again, McGee explaining how horrible work had been, when Tony ruined the moment and said that he'd actually been quite glad.

Ducky appeared an hour later, intending on speaking to Gibbs, but getting quite sidetracked when Ziva leapt off her desk and hugged him.

"Welcome back, Ziva," he said, trying to cover his surprise.

"Thank you Ducky," Ziva smiled and pulled back. He had the distinct feeling it wasn't for the welcome.

"What for?" his face showed absolute puzzlement, Ziva opened her mouth to reply, when a sudden cry could be heard from the elevator.

"ZIIIIIIIIIIVAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A black blur raced from the doors, trailed by a smiling Gibbs, and tackled Ziva in what was meant to be a hug. Ziva stumbled backwards with an "oof!" and was kept on her feet by Tony, as the wind was knocked out of her. She hugged the blur, which was revealed to be Abby, back, and smiled, "You're back!"

Abby pulled back and her eyes sparkled, having not seen the agent in a month, because of Gibbs rules. Ziva grinned wide, from ear to ear. She felt childish, but she didn't care, she continued to grin. And she laughed. Hard. And for the first time in months, she didn't cough, and her laugh went uninterrupted.

~THE END~

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><p><strong>AN: I'm really quite sad to see it end. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Were they a little bit more in character? I hope so! ;) Anways, I promise a sequel! I'll get started on that after I get some sleep! Here's a sneak peak for the sequel (which is going to be name Hunted: Wherever the Stars Are):**

**Gibbs turned on the FBI federal agent, anger flashing in his eyes as Ziva let out a miserable cry, "And you didn't think it was important to mention it until now, after one of my agents was injured?" Gibbs gestured at Tony, who was lying, weak and clammy in the stiff hospital bed, as he shouted at the shaking federal agent.**

**"I can't believe you FBI agents," Ziva moaned from the corner, curled into the ball on the uncomfortable chair. What she wouldn't have given to suddenly be dead right at that moment. If she'd been killed, none of this would've happened. And she hadn't even seen the worst of it.**

**Oh! What could've happened? You won't have to wait long, don't worry! Make sure you check for the story! ;)**

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><p>aquasm: Thank you! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!<p>

ForeginMusicLyrics: Haha :) Thanks for reviewing!

pirate-princess1: Thank you (double) :) If you haven't noticed, I'm a Tiva fan :)

THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING! :) You guys all rock. Yes, even you, Bob XD


	9. Chapter 9

Hey! I just posted the first chapter of the sequel! Go ahead and check it out .net/s/7170146/1/Hunted_Wherever_the_Stars_Are

Thanks for being so awesome :-)

~Bandit


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